The detection of airborne water droplets and their classification into a droplet size distribution is an important function in the operation of aircraft. Different cloud formations can present different water droplet size distributions and associated cloud liquid water content (LWC), thereby posing various risks to aircraft, such as icing. The water droplet size distribution and LWC of a cloud can be determined or estimated in various ways. Several existing methods are based on diffractive droplet sizing techniques. However, such diffractive sizing techniques are limited to a maximum detectable droplet diameter due to the small angle scattering of large water droplets. For example, diffractive scattering by large droplets at angles within the divergence angle of the probing laser beam is unresolvable from the laser beam itself with current detection systems. As a result, information regarding the presence of a distribution of large droplets in excess of the maximum resolvable diameter is lost, potentially leading to errors in the determination of the water droplet size distribution and associated LWC of a cloud.